


Thank You For Loving Me

by QueenBookBuff



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Finding Forever, Love, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Redemption, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBookBuff/pseuds/QueenBookBuff
Summary: As Hyde sits around the dinner table he is struck by how thankful he is for the people he calls family. He can't help but look at Jackie and know what his heart has been trying to tell him for years.
Relationships: Eric Forman/Steven Hyde, Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde, Kitty Forman & Steven Hyde, Red Forman/Steven Hyde, Steven Hyde/Donna Pinciotti
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Thank You For Loving Me

**Author's Note:**

> Okay..... I know this is not one of my series that people are waiting for updates on. This popped into my head today while Thanksgiving dinner was cooking and I had to get it out.
> 
> This is my thank you and my deepest appreciation for all the love and support that has been shown to me. 2020 like for many has been a hell of a year and writing in this Fandom has given my heart the lift it needed.
> 
> For all of you...... I am blessed beyond measure that you give my simple words a read. Let me say this and it is my personal and teaching philosophy.... "Everyone has a story and every story matters."
> 
> All of you matter and while I might not know you...... you matter to me. I also want to thank all the people who post stories. I find comfort in the written word and I've spent many hours happily reading the world some of you have created.
> 
> Peace, Love, and Rock Roll  
> Queen Book Buff

Hyde had sat at this table a million times for dinner. He closed his eyes briefly and tried to remember the first time he ate dinner with the Formans. He had been friends with Eric so long, he couldn’t pin point all their firsts anymore. It was Thanksgiving and everyone he gave a damn about was seated around the table. It occurred to him recently that all of them had somewhere along the way become part of the Forman family. He scanned the people around the table and pondered their journey to the seat they now occupied. There sat Kelso who had a huge family. He was number 3 out of 7 brothers. God the Kelsos were a herd. He had decent parents, they simply were too busy trying to keep track of the four young ones. He had met Kelso’s younger brothers, they damn near made Kelso appear tame. Yet, despite having an actual family, Kelso was spending Thanksgiving with all of them. Now that he was thinking about it, he didn’t know the last time Kelso wasn’t present for a family holiday. He brought Betsy with him this year. She sat on his lap clapping her hands. It still shocked him that Kelso was a dad and an excellent one at that. No one would ever say it out loud but Betsy was the first Forman Grandchild. 

Next to Kelso was Fez. He couldn’t help but smile at him. Who would have imagined helping a guy out of a locker would turn into a friendship he didn’t ever want to be without. It wasn’t a shock that Fes was here. His family was a million miles away, and he was long out of the house of the people who hosted him as an exchange student. Mrs. Forman would never let him be alone on a family holiday and truly it would be weird if he wasn’t in his place next to Kelso. As always, Donna and Bob were present. He couldn’t remember a holiday or an important event that they weren’t at. Even when Midge was around, the Pincottis had spent at least part of the holidays with their neighbors. 

Donna evoked all sorts of emotions inside of him. She was the first girl he ever gave a damn about. He could see now with more years of life behind him that liking her was the easy way out. Taking the easy path had always been his preference. He was comfortable with Donna, it had been simple to risk his heart with her because he knew if she didn’t want it, she would give it back gently. Hyde could admit to himself now that he always knew he didn’t have a chance. 

He wished sometimes they could go back to those simpler days because Donna was one relationship he had not been able to fully repair. She had not forgiven him for what he did to Jackie. He wasn’t sure that Donna really approved of Jackie taking him back. Frankly, he didn’t care who approved as long as Jackie was his again.

He would never admit it, but Eric was one of people at this table he would kill someone for. Forman wasn’t merely his best friend, he was his brother. Nothing had ever come between them, and he knew that Eric was one of the few people he could always count on. For Hyde that was everything. In a life made up of disappointment and abandonment, Eric had never failed him. Hyde had long taken a silent oath he would always do what he could to protect Forman as a thank you for his unyielding loyalty. If he subscribed to mushy shit he would say that he was beyond thankful for Eric. He couldn’t imagine life without him. 

At the head of the table was the only man on earth he respected without wavering. Red Forman was the father he never had. It made him feel guilty to think that way, with WB sitting across from him. Yes, WB was his actual dad, but he had no part in shaping him. Red had been kicking his ass since the first time Eric drug him into the house. 

Hyde knew without a doubt that he would be in jail or dead if Red had not taken him in. He could and would admit if asked he was grateful and thankful every fucking day for the day Red took him home. He understood poverty and desperation better than anyone at this table. He knew how grim things were for the Formans when they took him in. Hyde knew they were barely making it, and that is why he had given a large portion of the money he made at the Photohut and at Grooves to them until he moved out. He owed Red Forman everything. It was a secret hope that one day he would be half the man Red was.

There next to Red was the great love of his life, Kitty Forman. There was no one on this earth Hyde loved as simply and devoutly as he did Kitty. If Red saved his physical life, that woman saved his soul. No one had ever loved him the way Mrs. Forman did. She was the person who believed in him no matter how bad he fucked up, and he knew he had fucked up epically over the last couple of years. Her faith in him had never even trembled in the worst of the storm. She had been resolute, he would do the right thing and that he was worthy. She was simply the best person with the biggest heart and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. She was one of two people who evoked any type of softness in him. He had long stopped thinking of Edna as his mother. Kitty was his mother and he loved her without reservation. Emotion and feelings were and always would be a challenge for him, but with her it came easy and without struggle. 

His eyes moved to rest on the person who sat between him and Mrs. Forman, and he actually felt himself get choked up. Jackie. Even though he did everything he possibly could to burn them to the ground she had refused to stop loving him. He watched her openly because she was distracted by something Red was saying. It gave him a chance to watch her without her noticing. Next to him, Red was the other person who received Jackie’s utter devotion. If he spoke she listened, which was a minor fucking miracle because getting Jackie to listen sometimes was like trying to catch the wind. 

He had been in love with Jackie long before his heart and mind could define his response to her. When he thought about it, Jackie had from the minute she strolled into the basement, caused an extreme reaction in him. Annoyance, Astonishment, Pride, Concern, Want, and a Love he believed might kill him at one point. Nothing he had ever done could stop the enormity of what he felt for her. He had tried drugs, booze, other women and the complete destruction of his soul but still his feelings forwould slam to the surface as soon as he caught sight of her. Hell, if he was being honest, even thinking of her caused every damn thing he felt rush to the surface. 

Hyde knew he didn’t deserve her. Nothing she could say would ever convince him otherwise, especially after the last year. He had done everything he could do to break her, hate her and make sure she fell out of love with him. Hyde knew he was completely to blame for every minute of pain they both suffered. After Sam left, and he didn’t have a shield anymore to block his complete fuck up of losing Jackie, his behavior spiraled out of control. He could barely stand to think about the brief time Jackie had attempted to date Fes. It made him sick to think about the time he saw them kiss. For months, he had drank himself into oblivion trying to forget every shitty thing he did to her and how she would never be his again. One morning he had been about to stumble out of his room, mostly still drunk when he heard Donna and Jackie. It had been awhile since Jackie had been anywhere near the basement. Donna hadn’t been around much either. He probably would have walked out if the sound of Jackie’s tears had not stopped him dead in his tracks. Hyde closed his eyes and fell back to the day he hit rock bottom.

_ He stood in the shadows watching Jackie sit on the old broken couch and sob. It made him want to throw up. She had long stopped coming to the basement on a regular basis but she had picked up his drunk ass several times from the bar. He couldn’t tell you why he called her but he always did. Somehow he knew those tears were being shed for him and he wanted to know why. So he hung back in the dark and waited for answers.  _

_ He was surprised when he heard Donna’s voice take an unvarnished edge. _

_ “Jackie, this must stop. It has been six months since you guys broke up. The only reason he isn’t married still is because it was fake. He would have stayed with her. He doesn’t want you. I don’t even know why you want him.” _

_ Donna’s words hit him like a ton of bricks. He felt the shame of the truth breaking his heart. She didn’t know why Jackie would even want him. He didn’t either, he wasn’t worthing having. Donna wasn’t done with him or Jackie, she had a lot more to say. _

_ “He isn’t worth this agony. He’s a fucking drunk. He’s cruel to you and he has turned into a complete bastard. Jesus….. Why do you think I don’t ever come over here anymore? I can’t stand to see him like this. Jackie, its pathetic. I don’t know what else to say, you are mourning someone who couldn’t give two damns about you. He doesn't love you. I’m not sure he ever did. It’s time to give up on him. He doesn't deserve an ounce of your devotion. ” _

_ He nearly got sick right there. A bottle and a half of Jack Daniels was lurching to the surface. Donna’s words were like acid in his head. Did people really believe he never loved Jackie? Did Jackie believe that? Because he loved her so damn much it was nearly killing him. He wanted her back the way he wanted to breathe. He couldn’t live without her. All he could do was drink enough to make her dull inside his soul. Her tears were killing him. Each a shard of glass in his screwed up heart, and then her words cleared out the last of the alcohol induced haze he was living in. _

_ “NEVER! I’ll never give up on him. Fine, he doesn’t want me. Fine, he doesn’t love me. Fine, he wouldn’t give me the time of the day, but I won’t ever give up on him. I’ll never stop picking him up from the bar. I won’t stop checking on him and nothing can make me stop loving him. It might be pathetic but I’m going to love him until I die.” _

_ Every word was a life saving bandage on a heart that had been bleeding out for months. She still loved him. She still gave a damn. She refused to give up on him. She loved him.  _

_ Donna interrupted his moment of happy with a snarl, “Then don’t come crying to me anymore. You want to waste your life loving someone who doesn't want you or deserve you…. fine, but I’m done comforting you.”  _

_ He watched Donna stomp out. Jackie began to cry even harder. He had only seen her cry like that one other time and that was when he told her he was going to stay with Sam. He couldn’t stand to see her like this. Broken and holding herself together by her fingernails. Before he could stop himself he marched out to her and grabbed her in his arms.  _

_ “Shhh Doll, it is going to be okay. I’m so fucking sorry. Please forgive me.”  _

_ She sobbed violently. He held her tight and let her cry everything he had done to her out. For the rest of his life nothing would feel as terrible as her hurt being released on him. Finally, she settled down and pulled back from him and whispered the most profound seven words of his life. _

_ “I knew my Steven would come back.” _

Hyde came back to the here and now when he felt a slight tug on his arm. He looked down to find her eyes on his.

“Everything okay? You seemed far away.” Her face was painted with concern. Her petite hands snaked around his, holding them tight. He leaned down into her ear and whispered,

“Just thinking about you Doll.”

Dinner was wrapped up, so Mrs. Forman shooed them out of her living room. They had all decided after dinner they would go down to the basement and hang out. He considered again the people who had been with him through the good times and the bad, and he was incredibly grateful to have them as his family. Because that is what they were….. His family. Family was important, and he wanted them to all be a part of a memory that was going to be the cornerstone to the rest of his life. He closed his eyes one more time to reflect on all of it. 

It had been a terrible year, all the pain that went with him freaking out in Chicago, Vegas, Sam and his desire to hurt Jackie as much as his heart hurt. It had been his hell, one self-inflicted and one that he had drug Jackie straight down with him. Despite all of his sins, here she was sitting on his lap, having forgiven him, by some miracle still loving him and giving him one more chance. 

He buried his head in her hair and silently said “Thank You, Doll, I’ll never mess it up again, and I’m never letting you go.”

He wanted to do it where it all started, in this place that was the stage in the great drama of their story. He wanted to erase the painful part, take away the taint, by giving her something to hold close to her heart for the rest of their lives. He was going to ask her to marry him. He smoothly moved her hair over her shoulder, so he could whisper in her ear.

“I love you Doll, I’m never going to stop.” 

He felt her body melt into his, and she turned to gaze at him, her smile brilliant. Her complete focus on him, is what he wanted. She kissed him softly but with her whole heart. He very slowly took his hand off her waist, reached into his pocket and took out a diamond ring. It was one she had pointed out years and years ago, but he never forgot about it. As she continued to be distracted by their kiss, he slipped it on her finger. She startled and looked down, her whole body going stiff.

He whispered over her bare shoulder where he had swept away her hair and finally did what he knew he should have done over a year ago

“Marry me Jackie. Stay with me forever or until one of us is no longer here, but please God, let it be me who goes first because Jacks, I can’t live without you. Please say yes.”

He felt her hand clutch into a fist where he just placed his promise, and he watched her eyes close. One single tear fell down her face, but she was silent and for a minute he felt bleak dread coming over his heart

“Doll? You want to tell me your answer?”

Her eyes flew open and for the first time in a long time they were brilliant, without a trace of hurt but burning bright with her answer. She leaned into him laying her head on his shoulder just like she used to when she first became his, something she hadn’t done since they had gotten back together. She answered him softly in his neck for only him to hear

“Yes, Steven. I want to love you forever, but please God let me go first. Because I can’t live without you.”

He had shifted her quickly and kissed her hard, and she was almost laughing and crying together against his mouth. 

He had put his head to hers and said “ready to tell?”

She shook her head yes and turned to watch the expression on their friends’ faces.

“Hey guys, Jackie and I need to tell you something.”

All the gang looked at him, and he said with his smirk “Jackie just agreed to marry me, we are getting hitched”

The basement erupted into chaos, the perfect part was Jackie never uttered a sound but to whisper in his ear 

“I love you more than my heart can hold.”

All around them were shrieks of happiness, but all he could hear was the love in Jackie’s eyes. 

He kissed her softly and whispered, “Thank You for loving me.” 

She leaned into him and he held her tight. Jackie was his forever.

  
  



End file.
